A lawsuit aimed at tossing Republican Robert Bentley off next week's general election ballot was itself tossed Friday by a Jefferson County judge.

Circuit Judge Nicole "Nikki" Still ruled that Alabama law does not give her jurisdiction to remove Bentley from the ballot or jurisdiction to halt next Tuesday's election while a replacement for Bentley is found.

The lawsuit was brought by former Birmingham City Council member Dr. Jimmy Blake.

Blake had contended that Bentley had knowingly violated the state's Fair Campaign Practices Act by failing to disclose on financial reports filed July 8 that the Alabama Education Association had contributed almost $22,000 to his campaign by picking up the cost of a series of automatic telephone messages. Bentley placed the messages to a half-million would-be voters days before the July 13 GOP runoff election between himself and Bradley Byrne.

Blake's lawyer, William Mathis, told Still during a hearing Friday that the purpose of the Fair Campaign Practices Act is to allow voters to know before they vote who contributed to the candidates on the ballot. He said Bentley's failure to disclose the AEA help denied voters that right. Mathis told Still that the decision she would make would decide whether the law had any real effect or force.

Former Birmingham Councilman Jimmy Blake, shown during a 2001 council meeting. (The Birmingham News)

Lawyers representing Bentley and the state essentially told Still the same thing, namely that she did not have jurisdiction to put the election on hold or remove Bentley from the ballot.

"The court has no jurisdiction to hear this case," former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jean Brown told Still. Brown represented Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman at Friday's hearing.

A lawyer for Gov. Bob Riley, Matt Lembke, said Blake's suit was "an effort to disrupt the electoral process. That's all this is."

Montgomery lawyer Al Agricola, who represented Bentley at the hearing, told Still that the calls Bentley made came after the July 8 filing date for candidates to disclose contributions for the preceding period and that Bentley broke no laws.

At one point Friday, Agricola called the lawsuit part of a "witch hunt" by forces trying to stop Bentley's election.

What seemed to be an important moment in the hearing came when Still asked Mathis to cite for her what law gave her the jurisdiction to grant the temporary restraining order halting the election and removing Bentley from the ballot.

Mathis answered that he had not found any law giving the court that authority.